Living in Korea, I see a lot of rice cake among the foods that I often see in my daily life. Holidays, important days, there are many foods with rice cake in everyday life, so it was amazing. I also think 'Koreans really like rice cakes'. Shall we find out about this common and traditional food together?~~ haha

Rice cake history

Tteok is a food made by grinding grain into powder and steaming, boiling, or frying it in oil. The etymology of rice cake is the old verb jjiga, which became a noun and changed to jjigi-deokgi-tteok-tteok, which originally meant that it was steamed. In the early Goryeo Dynasty, grain-based foods such as rice cakes, porridge, and rice were further developed as a result of the focus on agricultural policy. In addition, Buddhism, which was introduced during the Three Kingdoms period, reaches its peak in the Goryeo period. The trend of eating tea and drinking tea, avoiding meat, created an opportunity for rice cakes to develop further, along with steamed rice cakes, and during this time, the types of rice cakes and recipes are very diverse. Tteok developed more extravagantly, centering on the royal court and the class, and there are as many as 198 types of rice cakes appearing in food-related cookbooks in the Joseon Dynasty, and the number of ingredients used to make rice cakes is 95.

[Naver encyclopedia] Origin and history of rice cake Reference and arrangement

different types of rice cakes

Rice cakes are also available in many variations. In the past, rice cakes felt like 'dessert', but nowadays, there are various ways to make rice cakes, such as adding other ingredients or attaching seasonings or garnishes with special flavors to rice cakes. Tteokbokki made with rice cake, sotteokssotteok, fried rice cake, etc. are common in snack bars. Tteokguk, which is eaten a lot on New Year's Day, and steamed or steamed rice cakes are also used as cooking ingredients. In Korea, you see too many rice cake dishes, dishes containing rice cakes, and rice cake shops. Injeolmi rice cakes, red bean rice cakes, mugwort rice cakes, songpyeon, glutinous rice cakes, etc., aside from traditional rice cakes, these days, tiramisu, chocolate, cheese,... various kinds of rice cakes continue to appear.

Famous rice cakes by region

In common, rice cakes are made with flour or rice flour, but rice cakes made with special ingredients or recipes are very famous in certain regions, and there are many such cases. For example, there is 'multteok' in Busan. Garaetteok skewers are boiled for a long time in fish cake soup. The chewy rice cake soaked in the broth is really delicious. You must try it when you go to Busan. And Jeju Island is famous for Omegi Tteok. It is one of the most popular items for tourists. Rumor has it that potatoes are delicious in Gangwon-do, so potato songpyeon is also very famous in Gangneung! Glutinous corn sirutteok, buckwheat rice cake, cloud rice cake, potato jiru rice cake,... There are many kinds of rice cakes, and there are also unique rice cakes by region!

Interesting story about rice cakes

Because rice cake is such a common and traditional food in Korea, there are many interesting stories related to rice cake! In Korea, we eat a lot of rice cakes on test days, interview days, and important days. Especially glutinous rice cake. It is known that it is given in the sense of 'attach yourself to the test' because it resembles the sticky property of glutinous rice. Glutinous rice, the main ingredient of glutinous rice cake, is warm and sweet in terms of oriental medicine. It is good for people with weak stomachs, people who sweat, or people who often suffer from diarrhea. Red beans have the effect of reducing the amount of sugar burning residue that causes fatigue, so it is good for fatigue recovery and makes you feel full!. It relieves the burden on the nervous stomach on the morning of the test, and it makes you feel full even if you eat a little, so you don't feel hungry throughout the test. In addition, the sugar in red beans helps the brain rotate smoothly.

Not only the taste, but also the history, region, type, and related stories are all interesting~ haha? On the day of an important exam, I buy glutinous rice cakes and eat them~ haha. The results will come out well~~.